Saturday 26 March 2016

Sunday Snippet: "You will have to do.”


Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly blog hop where indie authors share 8-10 sentences of their work in progress, current, or forthcoming release. I'm choosing to go with Storm Born, my standalone coming in May, available for pre-order now (links below). Last week, our heroine Ava was caught in a deadly hurricane created by a humanoid weather-controlling creature called a Stormkind. She was sure that would be the end of her, when a man appeared to confront it. This snippet happens a few paragraphs later, when Ava paints her rescuer in a slightly different light.

His inky eyes traced my body, scrutinizing instead of leering. 
“You are not ideal,” he growled. “But I am short on time. You will have to do.”
I didn’t know what he meant, didn’t even know how to start asking, when he reached for his belt and took out a dagger with a light in the crystal blade. 
I didn’t have time to admire the weapon’s beauty before the man stabbed it into my chest.
I screamed at the pain, but it wasn’t just because I’d been stabbed. I only felt that initial sharp, burning punch for a single second.
            After that, I felt everything else.

***


A single night can change your life… for the worst.

It’s been a century since the last Centennial Storm, the calamitous phenomenon that covered the world in disasters– tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, tsunamis, and dust storms– caused not by nature, but by alien creatures from another realm. The Stormkind.

Ava Reid tries not to think about that night, when she was caught in a hurricane and brought face to face with one of the Stormkind, the man with a dagger, and the agony she felt when he stabbed her with a crystal blade. Yet as she and the rest of Florida’s citizens begin to rebuild their lives, Ava can’t help but notice strange things happening around her. Things she seems to be causing. The gusts of wind and sudden floods attract the attentions of a mysterious stranger who leaves her clues, and the deadlier men following her.

It isn’t long before Ava is swept up into a wild conspiracy, led by a secret society that knows the truth about the Stormkind– and what their enemies have planned for the world she loves. If she wishes to protect her friends and her family, Ava must harness her strange new abilities and become part of the Stormkind society. Because if she loses control, there will be no force strong enough to stop her…


Pre-order here!

Amazon Kindle | PaperbackKobo | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Smashwords | iBookstore |

It's been a busy week thanks to a series spotlight for Cursed on Princess of the Light and an author interview on The Blonde Bookworm. I also got the last of my swag in for Damnation's Door, which I'm super pumped for, and set up all the pre-orders.


Demons are free. Angels are fallen. Hope is dying...

Constance Ramirez and her adopted sister, Andromeda, have stopped Lucifer’s plan– They have closed the Heaven Gate and kept the demons out. But their choice came with brutal consequences, and now every angel on earth is trapped in their mortal body.

All that remains is closing the Hell Gate and establishing a balance once and for all. That means returning to the city of Constance’s nightmares, which has become a haven for murderers and monsters. But even more dangerous than their hunt is that Andromeda’s powers and instincts are turning darker, and this time Constance doesn’t know how to protect her.

Constance is ready to fight for her life, but her enemies have plans she can’t begin to imagine, and they’re prepared to make her suffer...

Trust is lost and hearts are broken in the epic conclusion in Amy Braun’s Cursed trilogy...


Pre-order it here!

Amazon Kindle Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Nook | Goodreads | Smashwords |

Now that things are slightly settling down (for now), I have a chance to continue working on the first novel in my Areios Brothers series. I still think it's going well, but it's going to be a bit gruelling to edit. Details have changed, but at least the whole story is going to stay the same this time! I have extra time off next week, and almost all of it is going to be devoted to writing, with the hope that I'll be able to complete this draft and move onto plot a new story in a new series to be written following my current work in progress.

So that's what's been happening! Exciting times! Be sure to check out the other Weekend Writing Warrior blogs and leave them some love. Cheers!

Amy

32 comments:

  1. Ouch! That's going to hurt in the morning!

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  2. A very dramatic continuation - and an indication that everything is about to change for our heroine. This is good - I'm looking forward to Storm Born being released!

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    1. Thank you! I'm in that excited/nervous stage and will be until probably June haha.

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  3. Amy, you are not a mild mannered reporter-No way. What an imagination. As a contemporary Romance/Suspense writer, this is new to me and all I can say is WOW! where does this come from. Best to you.

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    1. Aww, thank you so much Charmaine! That means a lot to me. :D

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  4. Whoa! Love the cliffhanger, Amy, and the detail in this snippet is amazing!

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    1. Thank you! But now I have no idea where to pick it up from. haha

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  5. Talk about a hook! Awesome snippet and the blurb really caught my interest. Can't wait to see more of this story.

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    1. Yay! Thank you so much! I'm getting a little more excited each day... and a little more nervous. I'll be keeping the snippets up until at least the end of April.

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  6. Well that's the definition of a hook! So much excitement and tension in one short excerpt, and it's succinct. That's not easy to do :-)

    Best of luck with the release, I'm sure it'll do well.

    Marcia

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    1. Thank you so much! I've definitely got my hopes up. ;)

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  7. Sounds like out of the frying pan into the fire. Curious to know what the "everything else" might be.

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  8. Eeek! Of course I'm dying to know why he did this and all the things she's feeling now. Hmmm.

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    1. Well, I can tell you they're not pretty... Though that shouldn't come as a surprise. >:)

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  9. Ouch! What a meeting. I'm intrigued to know what happens next. Not death I'm assuming, but something so much more.

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  10. Intriguing snippet! Love the last line.

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  11. Anything you get 'volunteered' for that involves getting stabbed in the chest can't be a good thing. o.O

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  12. It would be nice to be wanted for yourself and not just because you're a warm body.

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    1. Indeed, but Ava's not exactly a lucky girl. :)

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  13. Hit in the face (Your not ideal. I'm short on time) then stabbed in the chest - literally - wow - this is so not a good day.

    Tweeted.

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    1. Nope, she's definitely got some trouble coming her way. :) Thank you!

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  14. Wow, what a line to end with! Dying to know what else she's feeling and what she'll "do" for!

    ~Joyce Scarbrough

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    1. Thank you so much, I'm really proud of the opening. :)

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  15. Bam! Wow, what a scene. I am intrigued by this scene. Perfect catalyst for a story!

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    1. Thank you! I had a great time writing the opening. :D

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